World's First Self-Driving Taxis Hit The Road

The world's first self-driving taxis have picked up passengers in Singapore.

Select members of the public began hailing free rides on Thursday through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup.

While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says it is the first to offer rides to the public.

It beat ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks.

The service is starting small _ six cars now, growing to a dozen by the end of the year.

The ultimate goal, say nuTonomy officials, is to have a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018, which will help sharply cut the number of cars on Singapore's congested roads.

Eventually, the model could be adopted in cities around the world, nuTonomy says. For now, the taxis are only running in a 2.5-square-mile business and residential district called "one-north,'' and pick-ups and drop-offs are limited to specified locations.

And riders must have an invitation from nuTonomy to use the service.

The company says dozens have signed up for the launch, and it plans to expand that list to thousands of people within a few months.

The cars - modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics - have a driver in front who is prepared to take back the wheel and a researcher in back who watches the car's computers.

Each car is fitted with six sets of Lidar _ a detection system that uses lasers to operate like radar _ including one that constantly spins on the roof.

There are also two cameras on the dashboard to scan for obstacles and detect changes in traffic lights. The testing time-frame is open-ended, said nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma.

Eventually, riders may start paying for the service, and more pick-up and drop-off points will be added.

NuTonomy also is working on testing similar taxi services in other Asian cities as well as in the US and Europe, but he wouldn't say when. "I don't expect there to be a time where we say, `We've learned enough,''' Iagnemma said.

Doug Parker, nuTonomy's chief operating officer, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore's roads from 900,000 to 300,000.

"When you are able to take that many cars off the road, it creates a lot of possibilities. You can create smaller roads, you can create much smaller car parks,'' Parker said.

"I think it will change how people interact with the city going forward.''

An Associated Press reporter taking a ride on Wednesday observed that the safety driver had to step on the brakes once, when a car was obstructing the test car's lane and another vehicle, which appeared to be parked, suddenly began moving in the oncoming lane.